FSE

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The desert skies were bright and clear again, even as the sun started its swift descent past the golden horizon. Stars appeared one by one overhead, glimmering faintly as the last rays clawed back the night's veil. However, this wasn't the end of another uneventful day of sailing. This was when The Sandstalker came alive.

All claws were on deck, and the ship bustled with activity as sailors brought The Sandstalker's swift journey to a halt. One after another, the tremendous anchors dropped, four on either side, to hold them steady against the sand's ever-shifting currents. Sails were hoisted and stowed away from the persistent breeze. A brief flurry of whiskers and tails as The Sandstalker prepared for nightfall. A rush to lock down the ship, which ended as soon as it began. Sailors dashed into the cabin and hurried below deck. A familiar sight, as cats hurried back for a quick dinner before the sand's creatures started stirring - before their last night of hunting.

Kali didn't turn a single ear towards the commotion. She kept her whiskers pointed at the task at hand, as she worked on a smaller crab trap at the bow. One of the few old rusty traps the crew let the apprentices mess with. She shoved a thick braided rope through an iron ring, weaved it around, and pulled the knot taut, securing the last wooden buoy at the corner.

“Kalari! Anchors are down. Get your tail over here. It's mealtime!"

“Got it, Masede!" Kali called back. She gave the rope one more tug, making sure it stayed secure. The iron ring rattled, and the cage's old metal bars had more slack than the knot she tied. Good enough for now. Kali straightened up and surveyed the other traps scattered nearby. At least five were ready for nightfall. Three others had half their buoys on them. Several had nothing on them. As usual, some cats were more interested in getting paid for their part of the haul than others. Others were more interested in gossiping instead of fixing grody crab traps.

The other apprentices didn't need any encouragement. Most of them had already left her behind, racing over towards the cabin. As eager to eat as they were to abandon the task at hand. At least they wouldn't have to pretend anymore. Not that they needed to in the first place. Masede wasn't the best supervisor. He didn't have enough patience for it. He gave up riding on most apprentice's tails after a week or two. Now he only bossed Kali around - or tried to. She could hardly take it seriously, since she and Masede raced across the decks regularly when she was a kitten. Masede was a big, burly looking cat, with an intimidating pitch-black pelt, but he wasn't nearly as tough as he looked.

Masede waited for her by the door, the end of his tail flicking. “Hey, that's Bosun Masede-"

“Yeah, sure." Kali sealed a laugh behind a tight-lipped smile. “Whatever you say, Masede."

Kali ducked down, dodging a rather predictable swing of Masede's open hand. Too easy to see it coming. Masede had swatted her far too many times before. He wasn't even going to clip the end of her whiskers now. She sprinted a safe distance away before risking a look back. Seemed like she was safe, by how Masede's laughter echoed in the wooden hallway. Still, Kali didn't wait around.

She hurried through the halls, forcefully blinking as she went. Her eyes adjusted to the dimly lit cabin. Her good eye dilated enough for her to see the smooth floorboards. Her bad eye, or weird-eye depending on who you asked, was always an awkward in-between. Never wholly right in the dark, and too full for the light. After a minute, she could see well enough regardless.

A quick spin around a corner, and she trekked downstairs, each step creaking and squeaking underfoot. Kali headed one floor down and towards the stern of the ship, where the smell of dinner wafted from. A warm crabby scent that spread through the ship's interior. Maybe a spice to it this time. Though that was probably her nose's wishful thinking.

She passed by the main dining room, where all the crew were already tearing into their food. Some with a couple of tankards to wash it down. She recognized a few pairs of whiskers, some tails in the back. None of them turned any ears towards her. They were too busy downing their meals before the last shreds of light were gone. Kali didn't bother flipping her tail for a quick greeting. Manners weren't needed at mealtime, when everyone's noses were in their bowls, anyway. Her sights settled on the smaller room two doors down.

As usual, Kali heard the other apprentices before she saw them. Voices echoed through the hallway, bouncing off the narrow walls. Laughter. Some of it forced and some of it real. They crowded around a single rectangular table that ran the room's length. Unlike the real sailors, most of them were more busy chatting than eating. Several bowls sat untouched. Granted, the Dockies hadn't worked up an appetite to begin with - since they hardly worked at all.

There was a single large pot at the front, set in its usual place on a smaller table beside a stack of bowls. Kali's nose led her straight to it. Little remained after the other apprentices had their shares. Even so, there was enough to fill Kali's bowl three-quarters, at least. Not much more than that. Better than yesterday, when she had to scrape the sides for meager leftovers.

Kali tossed her scarf back and grabbed a wood bowl. She sniffed the pot again, putting a bit more effort in to discern the scents. Another chowder of some sort. A creamy something or other with crab in it. Only crab, now that her nose was above it, and not much else. She didn't linger on it for too long. Best not to know how fresh or spoiled the crab was. Though after hauling buoys and metal traps all day, Kali didn't care much. Spoiled or not, she'd eat it anyway.

“I heard some sailors say it's going to storm soon," a colorpoint at the table said.

The other apprentices turned in their seats. Their ears lifted at this. “Yeah, right. How are they supposed to know?" another asked. “The forecasts are always wrong."

“It's the old sailors. They feel it in their whiskers-"

“Don't be dumb," a third said. “It's something to do with the wind or something. Like how the flags are waving around. Or something."

One molly at the table, with a light gray tortoiseshell pattern at her points, let out a prolonged sigh. “Really? A storm?" she asked, the tip of her long tail lashing her irritation across the floor. “That's so annoying. I want to get back home already." She twisted around, craning her slender neck. Her vivid blue eyes scanned the room until they settled on Kali. “Hey, you. Weird-eye."

Kali flattened her ears. She ignored the curious tone, scraping the side of the pot and clanging the ladle against its sides. As if the noise might drown out whatever question followed.

“Hey, Weird-eye," the molly said again, raising her voice over Kali's exaggerated ladle-work. “Hey, I'm talking to you!"

“Yeah, and that's still not my name," Kali said with a smart swish of her tail.

“Okay," the tortie-point drawled. “Let's try this, then. Hey, bastard-"

The other cats burst into giggling fits. Kali was less amused. She dropped the ladle and growled under her breath. Of course, that wasn't her name, either, but it was pointless to expect better. Not from a cat like Cerinnia.

“What?" Kali snapped. She turned, using that same “weird-eye" to stare at Cerinnia now. Whose bristling tail gave her away, despite her best attempts to seem unnerved.

“How long are we stuck here if there's a storm?" Cerinnia asked. “You know this sort of stuff. It's only a few hours, right?"

“Hours. Days. Weeks," Kali answered, a thin smile lifting her whiskers. “Depends on the storm. So, you might want to settle in. It might be a long ride."

Kali snatched up her bowl and spoon and left. Too annoyed to savor the lengthy groan from the colorpoints - Cerinnia included. Granted, she had lied a little. Storms rarely lasted longer than a day. Two at the most. But, if they didn't use their ears when the more experienced sailors were talking, that was their problem. Not hers.

With her meal in hand, she headed back to the staircase and descended another flight. Her agitated tail lashed the entire way. Days like this, when the other apprentices aggravated her, Kali usually ate with the sailors. She might have sat near Masede in case he tossed her some extra scraps off his plate. Some days, she wasn't interested. Sometimes she wanted to hear herself think. That's when she slinked down to the depths of the ship.

One more flight of stairs, and she reached The Sandstalker's cool underbelly. The origin of the cold crabby smell on the breeze, the cargo bay, where they stored the ship's catch. An enormous room with tall ceilings and sloped walls at the far end, where the ship's hull narrowed at the stern.

Kali passed by rows and rows of enormous crates. Most had smaller crabs, like the sort that they caught with the traps she wrangled with earlier. Several held separated portions of crabs - those too large to fit in a single crate alone. The legs and claws in one and the body in another. One crate had a pair of pincers jutting halfway out of the open top.

She traveled farther, where there was less loose sand tossed on the ground. Some swept away from the previous time she sat in that same spot. From the several previous times she sat there. More often than not, she realized as she sat there yet again with her back against the crate's rough-hewn wall. Too often, now that she really dwelled on it. She hadn't eaten with the Masede and the other sailors as often since she formally started her apprenticeship. That attracted too much side-eying from the less familiar cats. The only alternative was sitting at the table with the other apprentices, and getting called weird-eye or bastard, which ruined her appetite. Kind of ruined it even now, thinking about it again.

Kali swirled her spoon in her bowl. She only bothered with a single bite, grimacing as she chewed. The grit crackled and crunched between her teeth. Whoever was cleaning the crabs did a poor job scraping sand out of the joints. Probably another apprentice. They would regret it later, when the cooks sought them out. Hopefully, the tortie that called her weird-eye would get stuck with dish duty. That vain hope brought back some life to Kali's tail again and piqued her appetite along with it.

She popped a spoonful in her mouth and turned an ear aside. In the ship's belly, she could hear the groaning wood echoing off the bowed walls. The scuttling of live crabs in their crates. The occasional bit of sand getting kicked up and falling on the floor. All normal sounds in the cargo bay. But she wasn't used to hearing footsteps. Not at dinnertime. Everyone was usually in the mess or heading back above deck.

Her tail was half-lifted, ready to greet whoever was checking on their stores. Probably newer sailors that were fresh out of apprenticeship. They wouldn't send anyone else on a mundane chore like inspecting cargo during dinnertime. The light, uncertain steps paused at the bottom of the staircase. Kali's tail dropped limp back to the floor. It wasn't one of the new sailors. It was Rinzaan.

Kali watched him with her good eye as he skirted past the rows of crates. He tiptoed over heftier piles of sand, and he shied away from a crate that had a stream trickling down the side. His whiskers whipped left and right as he checked every crate he passed. Like a shark might leap out at him.

He walked more than halfway to where she was and stopped a couple whiskers away, where his tail did that nervous fidgeting thing it did sometimes. A weird motion Kali still didn't understand. Eventually, Rinzaan spoke up, but all he said was, “Hey."

Kali waited a second. Then a minute. Rinzaan seemed like he had more hanging on his bristled tongue, but he wouldn't speak outright. He stared at her, waiting for her to answer first. Though she had no idea what he expected her to say. “Yeah?" she asked, her impatient tail lashing once. “Do you need something? Or did you get lost, or-"

“I wanted to say sorry," Rinzaan said. “About the eye thing and what Cerinnia said. It was kinda wrong."

Her poor mood stirred up again, as the sand did when Kali lashed her tail. Rinzaan waited for her to say something. Again. His expectant eyes fixed on her. “You don't have to apologize," Kali said. “I honestly don't care what Cerinnia says."

A slight grin pulled at Rinzaan's whiskers. “So, you remember her name, huh?"

“Only because she's a louse."

Rinzaan laughed, his nervous voice lilting and fluctuating almost as much as his tail did. “Yeah, I guess that's fair."

Kali returned to her meal. She took another bite and chewed slowly. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Rinzaan, expecting him to leave. But he stayed there, standing a few steps away, with his tail still fidgeting. His half-full bowl clutched in his hands. “So," Kali said, pausing to swallow. “You came down here to apologize?"

“Er, yeah?"

Kali jerked her chin up at him. “With your food?"

Rinzaan's ears flicked. He looked at the bowl in his hands. “Oh. Right. Yeah, I did." He glanced up at Kali, and he gestured at the less sandy patch of floor next to her. “Is, uh, that seat taken?"

Kali looked at the sandy space beside her and scrunched her nose. “Does it look taken?"

“No? Maybe? I don't know."

“We're in the cargo bay." An amused grin started overtaking Kali's muzzle. Despite how annoyed she was. “No. It's not taken. But, if you'd rather sit by a different crate, go ahead." She turned back to her meal, thinking that was the end of it, but Rinzaan stepped over the sand between them and sat beside her.

Kali's tail was less agitated now and more curious, with the tip ticking up every second or so. She tried to hide it as best she could, keeping it tucked out of Rinzaan's eyesight. At least he wasn't doing any better job hiding his own tail. She could still see the weird flick-toss it was doing every couple of seconds.

Rinzaan set his bowl in his lap. He prodded a chunk of crab meat, nudging it all the way to the far edge before giving up and dropping his spoon. “Yeah." Rinzaan scratched the short cream fur on his neck. “Look, about the other day-"

Kali turned an ear. “What about it?"

“I just wanted to make sure you had- or I wanted to check and see if you needed anything for, well, yesterday? The whole crow's nest thing. So you don't…"

Rinzaan waved his hands about. As if that meant something. Kali blinked. “So I don't what?"

“You know." Rinzaan's hands fell onto his bowl. He tapped his restless claws on the surface. “Since we had sex and all, and I kind of-"

“Oh, that!" Kali laughed once. A more mewling, nervous laugh than she intended in front of a handsome cat like Rinzaan. She cleared her throat and shook her head. “Don't worry about it. I'm fine."

“I'm serious. If you need anything-"

“No, really, it's fine," Kali insisted. “I have it covered."

Rinzaan's ears lifted higher. “Yeah? You do?" His tail relaxed, and his shoulders slumped as he leaned back on the crate. “Right. Of course you do."

Kali's whiskers twitched. He agreed too easily there, but she let it go. It wasn't worth picking a fight over. Besides, he wasn't completely wrong.

Seeming more at ease now, Rinzaan picked up his spoon. Though his relative calm didn't last long. One more bite of his meal, and his eyes shot wide open. “Wait, I didn't mean it like that."

Kali laughed again. A sharper laugh this time. “Oh, no, you definitely did," she said.

“I didn't mean that you sleep around."

“You absolutely did," Kali said. She still grinned broadly, as she enjoyed herself far too much. Rinzaan was so embarrassed, he couldn't look at her - not even at her good eye.

He stabbed his spoon into his bowl with a dejected sigh. “I meant you'd be fine because you're smart," he muttered. “You wouldn't mess around unless you knew what you were doing. You seem smart like that. That's all."

Another scathing remark dangled at the end of Kali's tongue, but she stopped herself. Something about the way Rinzaan's held his ears, how they were so slightly dipped, gave her pause. The way he stared down at his bowl with his whiskers almost taking a dip in his soup. How his twitchy tail had gone limp. He wasn't messing around. He was being sincere.

Kali snapped her jaws shut. She turned back to the rather cool wooden bowl in her own lap. Now she was the one thoroughly embarrassed. “Oh."

She pulled her legs in, and her tail curled around her feet. Her bowl tucked up against her chest. Her appetite was gone again. This time because of the weird twisting of her stomach. Like eating a bad bowl of chowder, but somewhat different.

Rinzaan wasn't eating anything, either. His ears were still low from the occasional glance she risked. His spoon sat idle, and the remainder of his meal went untouched. An awkward eternity passed. The air was stagnant and crabby, with not much else to fill the silence. No clinking or clattering of utensils. Neither of them said anything, and neither took another bite of their food.

Kali forced her nose back up and spoke. “You're pretty strange, Rinzaan."

Apparently, that wasn't what he expected. He startled beside her, his bowl and spoon rattling in his lap. “What? Strange?" He asked, somehow more worried than before. “How am I strange?"

“You just are." Kali smirked. “I'm smart? How would you even know that? We've barely talked before now."

“We talked some at the nest-"

“Barely."

Rinzaan scratched at an ear. “I mean, it's pretty obvious you already know everything. About ships and sailing. You could tie all the knots before we even knew what a rope was. And you pick up on everything so quickly."

“Well, yeah. I have to." Kali shrugged. “I have to earn my pay. If I don't come up with rent, Mikora starves me." Her fur prickled under Rinzaan's pitied stare. By the way his ears slumped, he didn't recognize the joke. He must have missed her tail's jesting wiggle. “Oh, no, I'm joking," Kali said. “I'm not starving."

“You're not?"

Kali picked up her spoon and pointed it down his nose. “You know not everyone in the Benz is that poor, right?"

“I know-" Rinzaan dropped his gaze back onto his bowl. His muzzle held so low, his whiskers almost brushed the edges. “Sort of."

“Wow, you really believed me." She licked the back of her spoon and dropped it back in her bowl. “You thought I was starving."

“Well, you are pretty lean," Rinzaan said, starting to grin. A grin that didn't last as he looked at the wood planks overhead. “But, yeah, I did kind of believe it. Honestly, I don't know much about the Benz. It sounds scary, from what my parents say. I don't actually know if it's true or not."

“Really?" Kali asked, peering aside at him. “What do they say?"

Rinzaan shrugged. “Not much. They say they'll 'send me to the Benz' if I don't do what they say. 'Eat your greens, or your teeth will fall out, and you'll get sent to the Benz.' Or 'brush your fur, or your fur will fall out, and you'll get sent to the Benz.' On and on. Stuff like that."

“Seriously?" Kali asked with a laugh. “You know most cats in the Benz have their teeth and fur, right? Most of this crew lives in the Benz-"

“I know that now. This was back when I was a kitten-"

“A small kitten or a big kitten?"

By Rinzaan's grin, he was a bigger kitten than he wanted to admit. “Point is, they made it sound like some terrible place. Like somewhere you're banished to, if you're bad."

“They're not entirely wrong about that bit," Kali said. “Some cats do get sent there. Especially if they step on the Empress's tail. I mean, that's how Mikora and I wound up there."

Rinzaan dropped his gaze for a second, his brown ears swiveled awry. “Yeah. I do."

“But a lot of cats choose to live there," Kali said. “It's not that bad. Even some dockside cats move down there."

“I know. Terrill's uncle left for the Benz. They asked him to come back, and he told them to eat sand."

Kali chuckled. “Sounds right. Most cats that join the Benz don't go back." She looked down at her bowl. It didn't seem worth scraping up the last sandy scraps, so she picked it up off her lap and set it aside. “Anyway, life in the Benz isn't the worst. I do have to work, actually work, on this ship, but it's not that bad. It's not classy, but it's not a bad life on shore. At least, I don't think it is."

“Well, that's good to hear." Rinzaan smiled. “I'm glad you don't mind it. It's probably not that bad, if you say so."

Kali's tail flicked. The way he smiled and his eyes softened was unsettling. Her stomach twisted again. She wished she still had her bowl to look at. If she did, her whiskers might not feel quite as warm.

“For the record," Rinzaan continued. “I knew the fur thing was made up."

Kali turned her ears towards him. She was relieved to have something to take her mind off her simmering whiskers. “Did you?" she asked.

Rinzaan nodded. “And you confirmed it. Your fur is, well, soft."

There was another nervous twitch of his tail. A tell for certain. Kali grinned. “You realized it back when we were in the crow's nest, huh?"

“Before that," Rinzaan answered, much to Kali's surprise. “When we first met. Kind of met. Remember doing those relays? You helped me climb the mast-"

“Wow. That was forever ago. What was that? Day two?" Kali asked with a clever swish of her tail. “You've been thinking about my pillowy soft fur for two whole months?"

“Well, actually-" Rinzaan took a quick breath. He didn't balk under Kali's jeering. Instead, he nodded again. “Yeah. I have been."

Kali chirped. Her hands clasped her muzzle and spun away. She didn't think he would admit it. She didn't think he thought that way at all. Not about her. Kali's whiskers were completely flush now. Every single one of them burned to the very tips.

She ran her hands over her face, like she could wipe away the weird sensation on her cheeks. She was a little successful. “Hold on," she said. “Does this mean you made up the crow's nest dare thing?"

Rinzaan laughed, his warm, light voice lifting Kali's ears. “No! I didn't make it up. That was real. Just not why I wanted to be up there. I mean, I wanted it to happen. I, uh, wasn't expecting it to go that far. And that's part of the reason they teased me so much about it," he admitted. “I volunteered to go with you. I was kind of hoping we'd get to talk-"

“Wow."

Rinzaan whiskers dropped with a swift frown. “What?"

“I'm just-" Kali tossed up her hands. “I don't know."

“What do you mean?" Rinzaan asked, as alarm returned to his eyes - and his twitchy tail. “Or do you not like me back?"

“Like? We're 'liking' now? You actually like me?"

“Well, yeah." Rinzaan tilted his head. “What did you think I meant?"

“Nothing. Just- No one's ever had a crush on me before. It's, um, kind of new." Kali glanced at Rinzaan. “I thought you had something going on with Cerinnia?"

“What? Definitely no." Rinzaan grimaced. “Yeah, no thanks."

“She was crawling all over you this morning."

“She's been crawling on everybody. Might as well be in heat-" Rinzaan snapped his jaws shut. “Er, sorry, forget I said that. It's not right-"

Kali's whiskers lifted, and she laughed. All the tension left her muzzle, her ears and tail, and she reclined against the crate. “It's not totally wrong, either. She's been a particular flea these past few days. No wonder she wants to go back to shore."

Rinzaan grinned, but he was polite enough to keep his laugh behind his teeth. Barely. He coughed once to fight off the urge. “And I should say," he continued. “I like your fur far more than hers."

Kali looked at him from the corner of her eye. “You're really on about this fur stuff, huh?"

“I might be." Rinzaan shrugged. “What am I supposed to say? There's not much like it. My fur isn't like that. Not even my mom's fur is like that. She's supposed to have some of the softest fur on the docks. I've never met anyone with fur like yours."

Kali chuckled. She brushed her hand along the short gray fur on her forearm. “Supposedly my dad's was the same. That's what Mikora says. That I got my fur from him."

Rinzaan's ears dipped slightly. “Sorry-"

“It's fine. I never knew him. There's nothing to be sorry about." Kali's tail tossed with a dismissive wave. She glanced at Rinzaan's bowl, which was half-empty and forgotten in his lap. “Are you still eating?"

“Hm?" Rinzaan looked down. “Not really. It's not very good, is it?"

“Never is." Kali reached over and picked up his bowl. She flung it over next to hers, almost slinging the spoon onto the floor. She leaned forward, whipping her tail to fling the sand off it, and pivoted towards Rinzaan. Before he could try to stand, she set her palm in the middle of his chest and pressed him back against the crate. A surprised purr escaped Rinzaan's throat, but he seemed as intrigued as he was perplexed.

“So, you like my fur, you said?" Kali asked as she stepped over his knees and took a seat on his lap.

“I think you've made me say it a few times now, so, yeah." Rinzaan's eyes darted towards the stairs. “Are you sure-"

“Nobody comes down here. Don't worry." Kali shifted slightly. She could already feel his bulge between her legs. There was a reason he hadn't set aside that bowl yet. “But first things first-"

“Oh?"

Kali's playful grin vanished. “If we're messing around," she said, a slight growl rumbling with her words. “Don't drop me again. Not like last time."

Rinzaan's eyes lit with realization. “Right," he muttered. “I didn't mean to."

“But you did," Kali said, nearing a hiss. “And it stings-"

“I didn't mean to, I swear. I know I'm not supposed to do that. Just, well, my leg cramped?"

Kali's slight snarl promptly dropped. “What?" She asked. “Seriously?"

“Yeah," Rinzaan said, still refusing to look up at her. Shame weighed down his whiskers. “I didn't want to stop, because obviously, and it got kinda bad at the end. I couldn't keep holding you up, and it just happened-"

“Is that why you were-" Kali shut her muzzle, taking a forced breath to stay calm. She was so close to laughing at him. So very close. That's why he was limping. Apparently, he hadn't twisted his ankle after all. She shook her head, taking a slower breath to clear the rampant giggles in her chest. “Okay," she said. “I guess I can forgive you."

“It won't happen again."

“That part won't," Kali agreed. “But, I mean, the crow's nest wasn't so bad."

Rinzaan huffed. “Yeah. I'd rather not do that again. I like being able to walk. And maybe not dying?"

Kali chuckled at that. “Well fine." She turned an ear towards the stairs. There wasn't much to hear. Only crabs scuffling in the crates and distant laughs and clacks of silverware. She leaned back on Rinzaan's lap, with a lash of her mischievous tail. She reached to her elbow, loosening the ribbon that held the sleeves in place. “Take off your shirt."

“Here? Right here?"

“Where else?" Kali tugged the other sleeve loose. She pulled her shirt up over her ears and tossed it aside. “You want fur, right?"

He wasn't listening now. His eyes ran down from her chin down to her waist, where beneath the short white fur, he could see the faint pink nipples on her stomach. Kali laughed. “Wow, you haven't seen a cat before, have you?"

“What? Wait, no-" Rinzaan stammered as he reluctantly picked up his gaze. “I mean, I have-"

“It's okay. You don't need to pretend."

“No, I'm not pretending. The cats I've, uh, been with haven't been like this-" he loosely gestured at Kali's naked fur. “It's just the tail end. For business or whatever."

“Well, I can give you the tail end," Kali said, adding an exaggerated upward flip of her tail for emphasis. “If you want some breeding practice."

“I really, really don't."

“Then," Kali continued, a light purr rumbling as she spoke. “Sit back, and we'll do more pleasure than business."

Rinzaan chuckled. “That's so dumb-"

A grin pulled at Kali's whiskers. He was making fun of her, sure, but she enjoyed hearing him laugh. She grabbed the back of his neck and leaned forward, pressing his nose into her chest. She felt his quick, muffled gasp. A gasp shortened by the delighted purr that followed. His hands quickly found their way to her waist. The silky pink tips of his fingers drifted through her fur to the small of her back.

“Is it so dumb now?" Kali asked.

Rinzaan didn't answer. He pulled her closer, turning his head and rubbing his cheek against her chest. Kali trilled lightly. For all he went on about her fur, his wasn't that bad, either.

Rinzaan smiled from ear to ear. He straightened up, taking his muzzle from her sternum, and pressed his nose to her neck. Though Kali didn't feel his svelte purrs in her fur as much now. Her attention drifted towards the pressure between her legs, which teased her as much as she teased him.

She shifted her hips. The slightest motion stroked against her. Sent shivers through her thighs. She dug her claws into the back of Rinzaan's shirt. She leaned down to his ear, which was pivoted towards her quick breaths and stifled mews. “Take off your pants."

“I thought I was supposed to take off my shirt?" Rinzaan mumbled as he dragged his nose up into her neck fur.

“Take them both off."

“You first."

Kali didn't need much more prompting. She bounced up to her feet, prying apart her belt and kicking off her pants and underwear before Rinzaan even had his shirt off. Kali grabbed the bottom edge and yanked the rest over his big ears, grinning at the startled chirp he made. She sat back on his knees and pried his belt loose. “You need to get faster at this."

“Sure. I'll practice ripping my clothes off," Rinzaan said with a clever lash of his tail. “Just for you."

“You're lucky you're cute," Kali said as she pushed his pants and underwear down past his lightly furred sheath. She glanced down and grinned. “And pretty well endowed there."

Rinzaan grabbed her hips and dragged her forward. Kali laughed once and grabbed onto his shoulders. She held firm, keeping her legs tense and her waist aloft despite his claws digging in as he tried to pull her down. “I said sit back, didn't I?"

Rinzaan growled under his breath. She didn't let him say anything else. She pressed her muzzle to his. This time he didn't need coaxing. His tongue was at hers. Kali's breath shuddered in her chest. She leaned forward. Her bare fur against Rinzaan's. His soft fur mixed with hers. The faintest brushes against her small hard nipples with every breath they took together. Every shift and every sway.

Kali slipped her hand between them. Her fingertips found the tip of Rinzaan's flesh. The coarse barbs grazed her palm. She lifted him slightly, adjusted her hips, and leaned back. Gradually, she took him in. Let his warmth creep deeper and deeper. Until she had all of him.

Rinzaan took a sharp breath. His claws bit into her rear. Kali leaned forward, the fur on her chest pressing into his again. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kept her lips next to his ear. His warm, panted breath radiated from her neck all the way down her shoulder. She waited a moment longer, rather enjoying his claws pinching into her skin, and she lifted up. Obliged the draw of his hands. She inhaled sharply, holding her breath at that familiar twinge. Pins and needles digging into her loins.

Kali moved slowly, pausing as she waited for the piercing to ebb away. The scratching was less and less noticeable each time she slid back down his shaft. Overtaken by waves of pleasure that burned from her pelvis up to her lungs. She followed his hands, sliding up and down. She felt his every move, his every breath against her. The friction against her nipples was as tantalizing as the tense, prickling sensation deep between her legs.

Rinzaan held her down, pinning her hips against his. A mewl escaped Kali's lips as he thrust harder in. Bucking against her drenched thighs. Rocking her along with him. He grabbed the back of her neck, holding her fast against his chest. He thrust harder. Faster. His claws teased at her nape.

He thrust into her one last time. As hard and as far as he could. His hot gasp at her neck. One last drag of his barbs against her tensed walls. Kali's breath snagged in her chest. Rinzaan's member throbbed between her legs. She spasmed in return. Tension ran up along her spine. She grabbed onto him, drove her claws into his shoulders, and moaned once. Loudly enough it echoed off the walls and the surrounding crates.

Slowly, that last wave of pleasure ebbed away. Kali slumped against Rinzaan, her breaths a rapid pant. Even as exhausted as she suddenly was, her eyes were wide. Her ears were up. She peered past Rinzaan over towards the stairs. Not exactly her plan to be caught rutting and yowling in the cargo bay. It didn't seem like anyone heard her. At least, she hoped nobody did.

Kali kept her ear on the hallway. She took one last breath and pushed herself up, prying herself off Rinzaan. She did so more successfully this time. With much less grating from the barbs. She stumbled a step, but Rinzaan leaned forward and grabbed her wrist. “Are you okay?"

“Yeah," Kali said, laughing once at her own teetering. “I lost my sea legs for a second-" Kali's ears swiveled away. She heard a sound. Footsteps. Rinzaan's ears didn't move, somehow unaware, but she was certain. “Get up."

“What-"

“Now!" Kali hissed. She snatched up her clothes, and Rinzaan's shirt, and she grabbed his arm. She dragged him onto his feet, which were as unsteady as hers, and shoved him forward. There wasn't time to explain. They needed to hide. Kali took a step and paused, her tail bristling in alarm as she looked back at the bowls. She darted back and scooped those up, too, and shoved Rinzaan around the crate's side while he yanked up his pants and fumbled with his belt. Her ear twisted back towards the stairs. The footsteps were closer now. Halfway downstairs. She tossed their clothes and bowls and dragged Rinzaan back into the farthest recesses behind the crates. She snatched his muzzle, pinning his lips shut while she kept her eyes and ears on the surrounding cargo bay.

Two sets of footsteps. Meandering and casual as they left the stairs. Lazy. A couple of newer sailors were stuck with checking on the crab crates after dinner. The two cats wandered downstairs into the cargo bay, chatting idly about the dinner they had. How the crab wasn't as sandy yesterday. Then about a betting pool for how long the storm would keep them anchored. Neither knew what a good bet would be.

Kali held her breath as the sailors passed by. They didn't even glance in Kali and Rinzaan's direction. They wandered down to the farthest end, turned around, and headed back. Back upstairs to the main deck, by the sound of the heavier tread and the higher pitch creaking.

The moment Kali let go of his muzzle, Rinzaan laughed. “Well, I guess they didn't see us."

Kali's fur still stood on end. She looked at Rinzaan, bewildered at how calm he was. “Yeah, but they have ears," she said, almost hissing at him. “They can still hear us-"

“Hear us? Or hear you?" Rinzaan asked with a sly smile.

“That's not funny."

“It's a little funny. You have to admit it is."

Kali sighed. She picked up Rinzaan's shirt and tossed it at his ears. Unfortunately, he caught it before it hit his nose. “Maybe for you," Kali said as she slid her underwear back on. “Yeah, you can find it funny. Since you get to go back to your gold plates and doilies. I need this job." Kali pulled her shirt over her ears. “I need the money from this- Mikora needs it. This isn't a game to me."

“Hey-" Rinzaan grabbed Kali's hand. Her muzzle jerked up towards him, and she almost bared her teeth. “I'm sorry," he said. “I didn't mean it like that. Just wait a minute."

Kali's ears lowered. She yanked on her arm once. Rinzaan didn't let go.

“Can you just wait-"

“Yeah. No," Kali scoffed. “Some of us? We actually have to work. We don't get paid to stand around and chat."

“That's not what I meant." Rinzaan dropped Kali's wrist and ran his hands down his muzzle. “I was- look, I don't want to get caught, either. I really don't." Rinzaan sighed. “I don't want to get kicked off the ship. And I don't want to mess this up either, with us. I don't know what I'm doing. I can't seem to do anything right."

Rinzaan sat and leaned back against a crate. He didn't blink at the spilled sand this time and sat in a pile of it - tail and all. He shut his eyes and hissed his frustration up to the ceiling.

Kali watched him for a minute. For any movement in his tail and ears - even his whiskers. Nothing budged. Her tail flicked curiously. She turned her ears back towards the cargo bay and listened. No more voices. No footsteps. Just the crabs and leaking sand like usual.

She wasn't sure the offer to stay was still open, but she did. She finished buckling her pants and sat next to Rinzaan, keeping her good eye on him. “You actually want to be here?" She asked. “Most Dockies hate it here. Because it's-"

“Hard work?" Rinzaan huffed. “I'd rather do hard work than get treated like-" His eyes darted over to Kali, and he shook his head. “Forget it. It's nothing."

“Clearly it's not nothing," Kali said. “Treated like what?"

Rinzaan's tail whipped, scattering sand across the floor. “I'd rather be here any day than be up there, getting treated like I'm just something to look at." Rinzaan's whiskers dipped with a frustrated grimace. “Something to just- to just breed and die."

Kali's ears lifted slightly. A small smile on her lips. “You can't help being pretty, Rinzaan."

“Yeah, I know that!" Rinzaan whipped his tail one last time and wrapped it around his feet. “But I want to do something. Something more than being pretty and from a fine lineage or whatever."

Kali smirked. “So, what, you'd rather be a sailor?"

“Or something!" Rinzaan hesitated. He held up his hands and turned them over to look at the pink leathery pads on his palms and fingertips. “Well, maybe. Probably not." He sighed. “I'm trying my best, but I'm not sailor material, am I?"

Kali leaned over. She held up her own. Even after two months, the skin on his palm and fingers was far smoother than hers. It was a little funny, but Kali didn't laugh. She only smiled. “Not right now, no," she said. “But it takes more than a couple months to get used to this. Don't count yourself as shark bait yet."

“You got used to it just fine."

“I mean, I also grew up on boats. So, there's that."

Rinzaan dropped his hands on his lap and turned his ears towards her. “Wait. Did you really?"

“Yeah," Kali answered with a quick bob of her head. “You didn't know?"

“No." Rinzaan frowned. “I thought you were a fast learner."

“Well, I'm not that smart. Sorry to say." She looked aside at him. “I guess it's just my fur I've got going for me now."

Rinzaan's whiskers lightened up a bit. “Maybe." He looked over at Kali, a slim smile on his lips again. “But I don't mind talking to you, either. It's nice having someone actually listen and not just stare at me."

Kali's tail bounced playfully. “I mean," she said, with a coy mewl. “It's kind of hard to listen when you're shirtless."

Rinzaan's whiskers dropped with a scowl. He chucked his shirt up over his ears and struggled his arms through. “I'm being serious."

“What? And I'm not?" Kali purred with a long swish of her tail. “You'll have to get over it someday." She shoved herself up and brushed off some of the sand clinging to her pants. “I like your looks as much as your voice."

Rinzaan strangely didn't seem annoyed. His tail lifted higher, and there was a smart grin on his muzzle. “As much as I like yours."

Kali's whiskers simmered, but she laughed it off. She offered her hand, which Rinzaan readily took, and she pulled him back up onto his feet. He also brushed the sand off his clothes, doing so a bit more thoroughly than she had. He even picked out a few grains with the tips of his claws. Then he looked up at her. His hazy blue eyes on hers.

She waited there a moment, her tail shifting almost nervously again. Somehow unnerved by how Rinzaan looked at her. Because he did, when so many cats tried not to. Even if he didn't stare for too long, as he cleared his throat and glanced at the way they came. “I, uh, guess we go back now?"

“You can go ahead."

Rinzaan's ears perked. “You're sure?"

“Yeah." Kali picked up their bowls, and the two scattered spoons, and offered a set to Rinzaan. “Since neither of us want to get fired."

“Ah. Okay." Rinzaan took the bowl. He gave a rather sheepish lift of his tail, a quick farewell, and, after a couple peeks up and down the cargo bay, he headed towards the stairs at the far end. Once again taking large, purposeful steps around the puddles of sand he crossed. As if he wasn't sitting in a heap of it seconds ago.

She watched him head to the stairs, still giddy. A tad uncertain. She still wasn't sure this wasn't an elaborate prank. Some con to get her in trouble or some kind of cruel joke. If it was, Rinzaan's tail wasn't giving him away. He didn't seem conniving or scheming. He seemed happy, with the way his tail lightly swayed.

Rinzaan stopped, taking a single step up, and he looked back. His eyes found hers before she looked away. She still tried, whipping her head left to avert. He saw it anyway. She could tell by the smile on his muzzle. But he said nothing. He just shook his head and continued on his way; his tail carried even higher than before.

Kali brushed her fingers through her whiskers. The warm sensation was still on her cheeks. She waited a few minutes longer, giving her whiskers and tail some extra time to settle back down, and she started for the stairs. Though time didn't seem to help it much. She still returned to the deck with her tail airy and perked, bouncing along with each step. Every bit as light, as cheerful, as Rinzaan's tail was, and that feeling didn't seem like it was going away anytime soon.